Penn State opens as heavy favorite vs. Rutgers despite recent skid - PennLive

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STATE COLLEGE — Despite dropping four of its past five games and tumbling out of the national rankings, Penn State is still a heavy favorite its next matchup against Rutgers, according to oddsmakers.

The Nittany Lions are heavy favorites over the Scarlet Knights for Saturday’s game at Beaver Stadium with lines being set anywhere between 18 points (Circa Sports) and 16 points (Oddsshark). Circa Sports set the total at 49.5 points, while DraftKings has it at 46.5 with Penn State as a 16.5-point favorite.

Penn State (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) should be able to handle Rutgers (5-5, 2-5), given its superior talent, but little has come easy for the Nittany Lions this season.

Read more: Penn State falls from national rankings after four defeats in five games

Penn State peaked in the national rankings at No. 4 entering its matchup at then-No. 3 Iowa on Oct. 9, but since then, Penn State has lost four of its five games. The four defeats have been by a combined 18 points, but the Nittany Lions squandered plenty of chances.

On Sunday, Penn State fell out of both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll for the first time this season. The Nittany Lions were not ranked in the first two editions of the College Football Playoff Top 25.

On Saturday, Penn State fell to Michigan, 21-17. The Nittany Lions held a late lead before Wolverines quarterback Cade McNamara found tight end Erick All open underneath the defense, and All ran for a 47-yard touchdown.

Read more: Penn State’s Kevyone Lee focuses on ‘details,’ finds rhythm in solid rushing performance

Rutgers, for its part, throttled Indiana, 38-3, on the road Saturday. Since a 3-0 start, the Scarlet Knights have gone 2-5 with the only other win coming at an Illinois team that beat Penn State.

The Nittany Lions have won all seven meetings with the Scarlet Knights since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014. Dating back to 1989, Penn State has won 14 straight against its geographic neighbor. The Nittany Lions beat the Scarlet Knights, 23-7, in Piscataway, N.J., in December 2020.

Penn State and Rutgers will kick off at noon at Beaver Stadium, and the game will be televised on Big Ten Network.

Read more: No. 23 Penn State delivers good, bad and ugly on special teams in 21-17 loss to No. 9 Michigan

Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for PennLive. He can be reached at dgallen@pennlive.com. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow PennLive’s Penn State coverage on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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Penn State opens as heavy favorite vs. Rutgers despite recent skid - PennLive
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